Khanna withdraws from IOA polls

New Delhi, Dec 7 (IANS) Former All India Tennis Association (AITA) chief Anil Khanna has decided to withdraw from the election for the post of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president in order to preserve the unity of the “IOA family”.

Although the deadline for withdrawal of nomination was on December 3, Khanna’s announcement means that International Hockey Federation (IH) president Narinder Batra is the only candidate in the fray for the December 14 elections.

“IOA has been one family so far, and the election this year is creating division. Many (members) do not want a division as they enjoy a warm relationship with both sides and find themselves in a difficult situation to finally decide as to whom to vote for,” Khanna said in a letter to the IOA members.

“In order to keep the IOA family united and to ensure that common friends are not put in a difficult situation situation while deciding who to vote for, I have decided to withdraw my candidature as president of IOA from the current election in favour of Narinder Dhruv Batra,” he added.

Khanna also praised current IOA president N. Ramachandran and Secretary General Rajeev Mehta for their performance over the last four years.

“I must compliment both the president and the secretary general for improving the financial position of the IOA through sponsorship and better management of relations with the IOC and OCA. This has enabled the IOA to start sharing funds with both the NSFs and SOAs,” he said.

“The contribution (of the IOA) has been raised from Rs 3 lakhs to Rs 6 lakhs last year and the Executive Council on 9th November 2017 has already approved payment of Rs 7 lakhs which can be increased by another Rs 2 lakhs depending upon sponsorship income.”